Wimbledon—London, England
No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal reached the second-round at Wimbledon on Tuesday, defeating Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci 7-6(0), 6-2, 6-3.
After trailing 0-4 in the first set, Nadal used his experience before running away with the match. Improving to 3-0 against Bellucci in lifetime meetings, Nadal struck 35 winners to 18 unforced errors during the two hour and 15 minute affair. Striking his fastest serve of the match at 130 MPH on match point, Nadal improved to 33-0 during grand slam first-round encounters.
Aiming to capture his 12th major and the No. 1 ranking in the world if captures the event, Nadal will next face Lukas Rosal or Ivan Dodig for a place in the third-round.
Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga—a possible quarterfinal opponent for Nadal—dismissed former winner Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
Reaching the semifinals of the event and beating Roger Federer last year, Tsonga will next face Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. The Spaniard survived a five setter against Jurgen Zoop, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 9-7.
In other action on Day two, hometown hero Andy Murray defeated Nikolay Davydenko 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 and will next face Ivo Karlovic or Dudi Sela.
No. 9 seed Juan Martin del Potro, Mardy Fish, Alexandr Dolgopolov, David Goffin, Marcos Baghdatis, Nicolas Almagro, Brian Baker and Kei Nishikori all prevailed.
Wednesday’s schedule will include Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
